Well-known Member

Hmmm likely to retail from about £270-£320 it seems. Shame it's only a 320GB hard disk as that's not a lot of capacity with HD content - and from 5 channels soon it will quickly fill up. Panasonic will, no doubt, have crippled any possibility of an easy HDD upgrade.

I've not heard of anyone who has one yet... which could mean either that they have taken a while to come through to merchant deliveries... or that they are pretty much flawless so that users have had no need to come searching for answers on the forums.

I am expecting these units to have the same basic engine as their bluray recorders and to behave similarly .. in which case they should be the most stable HD PVR's available.

Standard Member

There are 17 comments on Amazon which are pretty positive.
I would have been interested in purchasing one as I'm sure they are very well built and reliable.
The two main things that put me off are the small hard disc size which at 320Gb is too small for HD recordings. Also, the EPG is very similar to my recent Panasonic TV. These are very poor user interfaces; only a third of the screen displays useful info. the rest taken up by an advert or a large Viera logo and other wasted space.

Standard Member

I have seen reports that the Netgear WNDA3100v2 works, when the DMR-HW100 PVR sees it, then it updates the firmware.
I have one in the post, and looking for any bite you in the bum posts. as I seem to get bit alot.

Standard Member

I have seen reports that the Netgear WNDA3100v2 works, when the DMR-HW100 PVR sees it, then it updates the firmware.
I have one in the post, and looking for any bite you in the bum posts. as I seem to get bit alot.

Click to expand...

Have you had success in getting it working? It sounds like if i update his firmware to 1.4 it should work? The machine didn't update when i plugged it in and reported that 1.0 firmwarte was up to date, though i'm sure it must be possible to manally update it.

Unfortunately, we took the Netgear dongle back for a refund shortly after i posted. They tried to sell us a Panasonic one for £75, but i thought it would be a good idea to wait a bit to see what developed on this forum. If it looks like this will work, i'll order another one for my dad and have a another go with new firmware etc.

Active Member

There are not many reviews about this unit so I will start mine to help others, as I bought it on Saturday.

We can't even get Freeview HD yet, not until June but this was an ex display unit at Comet so price was reduced to £149.99 I thought that's good price for a Panasonic HD PVR so why wait until June. Couldn't go wrong at this price so I bought it anyway.

Set up was easy, it took a few minutes to tune in, obviously no Freeview HD yet so I can't make comment about HD picture quality but other Freeview channels looked alright.

Good points;

- It is very very quiet as expected from Panasonic quality.

- can play a DIVX movie from USB

- TV guide has the option for single channel view in Portrait as well as multiple channels in Landscape

- Manual skip button for adverts 60 seconds skip or 10 second back.

- Setting HDMI to automatic upscales picture to 1080p if your TV is full HD.

- You can edit and partial delete of recorded programmes.

Bad points

- Big blank DIGA advert takes about 30% of Guide screen. It is useless and should not be there. There should be an option full screen EPG guide.

- There is no schedule button, so to see what is in timer recording you need to press Function menu then go down to timer recordings. That's 4 button pressing! You only need to press once on my Topfield PVR.

- If you are watching a recorded programme you can't see any detail of the programme. Pressing info button just confirms how many minutes have been watched and how long left.

- Now the worse part. You can't play your DIVX movie when timer recording starts! Considering most people would record something on prime time slot between 8pm to 10pm while watching their DIVX movies this is bad limitation.

To test this I started watching a DIVX movie 5 minutes before the timer recording and when it kicked off, the message popped up saying can't play back USB media when recording.

You would expect to watch your DIVX movie while it is recording, if you have a Panasonic DVD recorder you can watch a DVD while recording Freeview channels so why can't we watch USB media while this unit records?

Doesn't make sense to me.

Luckily, I have a Sony Bravia TV with USB media so I used Sony to play my DIXV movie while Panasonic was recording but if your TV doesn't offer this you may be disappointed with this limitation.

- You can't seem to edit manual ad skip button to from 60 seconds to 4 minutes like other PVRs, so again 4 button pressing required.

I have Sony set up for BBC Iplayer so I didn't need to set Panasonic for this, so can't make comment on BBCI Player.

I am sure there are many more good or bad points, I will update as I learn them feel free to ask a question if you wish to.

Active Member

1) How easy is it to select different output resolutions? ie: How many buttons do you have to press to toggle between 576p and 1080i? There doesn't appear to be a dedicated button on the remote. (This in the absence of an "original resolution" option.)

2) Does it remix 5.1 channel HE-AAC audio on the HD channels to Dolby Digital 5.1?

Well-known Member

Not much going on in this thread but am hoping someone can help me. I got one of these for my folks a few months back, and it works fine, however I was hoping to get a harddisk for it so i could transfer my divx files for them to watch.

however when i plugged in my external usb (bus powered) HDD it came up with an error "this device is not supported"

is there a list of all (if any) usb powered HDDs which will run on this machine to stream divx files.

Administrator

Not much going on in this thread but am hoping someone can help me. I got one of these for my folks a few months back, and it works fine, however I was hoping to get a harddisk for it so i could transfer my divx files for them to watch.

however when i plugged in my external usb powered HDD it came up with an error "this device is not supported"

is there a list of all (if any) external usb powered HDDs which will run on this machine to stream divx files.

failing that will a mains powered device work?

cheers

M.

Click to expand...

I wont waste your time or mine directing you to such lists, as in my experience they are usually completely inadequate and not kept up to date ... or ever added to, it seems to me.

You are better troubleshooting your own problems

My guess is the most likely inhibition here will be file formatting.
Only Fat16 and Fat32 file formats are supported.
Possibly the HDD you are using is NTFS?

I'm confused by your reference to 'external powered' USB HDD followed by your query related to mains powered which is what I thought you meant by the first type. Indeed bus powered devices are not supported.

Some other notes that might help.

This unit does not guarantee connection with all USB devices.
FAT16 and FAT32 file systems are supported.
This unit supports USB 2.0 High Speed.
This units USB port does not support bus-powered USB device.
USB memories support DivX and MKV files less than 4 GB.

If USB device is connected to this unit while using a video communication the connection will not be recognized. Press [EXIT] and reconnect USB device.

If inserted during playback the USB device may not be recognized by this unit.

Disconnect and reconnect the USB device. If it still does not recognize the connection, turn this unit off and on again.

USB devices connected using a USB extension cable other than the supplied with the Wireless LAN Adaptor DY-WL10 (optional) or a USB hub may not be recognized by this unit.​

Well-known Member

I wont waste your time or mine directing you to such lists, as in my experience they are usually completely inadequate and not kept up to date ... or ever added to, it seems to me.

You are better troubleshooting your own problems

My guess is the most likely inhibition here will be file formatting.
Only Fat16 and Fat32 file formats are supported.
Possibly the HDD you are using is NTFS?

I'm confused by your reference to 'external powered' USB HDD followed by your query related to mains powered which is what I thought you meant by the first type. Indeed bus powered devices are not supported.

Click to expand...

thanks for the info, great stuff, and indeed it was my poor wording which confused the issue. the drive in question WAS a bus powered device which is probably why it did not work.

i shall pick my mum up a cheapish mains powered drive and make sure it is correctly formatted

Active Member

iPlayer offers HD and the picture is better via this than via the Freeview channels (no HD Freeview yet in my area for a little while).

Guide indeed is a bit silly with Diga advert keeper on left wasting screen space.

Display on unit front is a bit primitive just displaying "D 1" rather than something nice like "BBC ONE"

Firmware update can be done of the network connection, over the air or FAT formatted SD Card.

What I find is a bit silly IMHO is that it uses the same IR codes as my Panasonic Blu-Ray player. Granted, you can change the IR Code for the machine but then every time you press a button the Blu-Ray player says "SET 1" on its display.

As it is a "HDD Recorder" I would have thought it could have had its own IR codes.

I have swapped it out for an earlier Panasonic Freeview Recorder and the tuners in the new one are definitely less sensitive.

Active Member

1. No network services e.g. iPlayer are available if the unit is recording (even 1 program). Setup also not available.

2. Something funny about HDMI output. I normally have my HDMI inputs set at "Just Scan" but with this I have to set it to "Original" otherwise 4:3 programs are stretched. If however I load iPlayer I can set the TV to "Just Scan" and 4:3 switching works watching live TV and recordings.

3. After trying 3D mode returning to normal mode does not leaving the picture looking like a total mess. I had to select another HDMI input on TV and back again to restore normal viewing.

4. When watching a recording or Live TV the Option then Zoom does not work.

What is odd is that I have a Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray player which works properly in "Just Scan" allowing me to Zoom a 4:3 DVD to fill the screen without distorting the image shape.

5. Parental controls work (which you can disable) which by default block me watching a recoding of "Family Guy"

6. In the recording Library it has a tab for unwatched recordings as well as a tab for Movie, Drama and Sport plus videos copied on to the drive from AVCHD.

7. It does resume playback of a recording where you left off.

8. It does put series link recordings in sub-folders.

9. One minute forward skip and 10 second rewind skip seem to work fairly well with just a short lag before playing starts again.

10. In library view it does play the selected video with sound in a small preview window (if not barred by child lock).

It does seem to have recorded everything I have asked it to (manual says it has a 32 timer limit) but I will have to wait another week before we get HD to see how well that works.

The 320Gb hard drive which offers about 80hrs of SD recording is a bit limited and if it is like earlier models they were software locked so even if you put a bigger drive in, it ignored the extra space.

The Blu-Ray recorder version which is in the same size box is the only other option but I guess the HD recordings would only play on the machine that records them (digital rights management).

So it is not a bad machine but the fact the iplayer and other media functions only work when the player is idle is a little poor and may put some potential buyers off.

I also don't know yet what happens if you are using a network function and it is due to make a recording. Will it warn you, chuck you out of the network or fail to make the recording...

Active Member

I have reported my problems to Panasonic but I bet they would not discuss modifying the product.

I have a DMR-HW100 Freeview+ Recorder.
Problem 1
Widescreen switching to 4:3 on Channel 4 TV does not work but is okay on other Freeview Channels e.g. Film4, and BBC Channels. I guess the signal format on Channel 4 is slightly different, a good program to replicate the fault is "The Simpsons" which is on every day.

Problem 2
When playing a 4:3 program Option, Aspect, Zoom does not work properly but is fine with my Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray player.

Problem 3
I cannot use Pixel matching "Just Scan" with my LG 3D LED TV unless I first load the BBC iPlayer on the Player then until a power cycle 4:3 / 16:9 switching works properly (except on Channel 4 re Problem 1).

Active Member

1. It does not keep the regional BBC region tuning choice and keeps going back to the wrong one.
2. In guide it also always displays all channels including encrypted rater than free to air or favourite list.

2. In guide it also always displays all channels including encrypted rater than free to air or favourite list.

Both of these problems occur after it has been in standby.

HummerUK

Click to expand...

In all past Panasonic systems, it has depended how one exits the guide as to whether the choice you have made remains defaulted.
So try this:
If you make a choice of the favourites list that you want, then choose a currently running programme on any channel from the guide, you will be taken to that show, and the guide will be exited.
Thereafter your favourites choice should remain defaulted.

Active Member

In all past Panasonic systems, it has depended how one exits the guide as to whether the choice you have made remains defaulted.
So try this:
If you make a choice of the favourites list that you want, then choose a currently running programme on any channel from the guide, you will be taken to that show, and the guide will be exited.
Thereafter your favourites choice should remain defaulted.

Click to expand...

Many thanks, that seems to work.

I have now hit the next draconian feature, you can only set it to make 32 recordings - why?

Active Member

We now have HD Freeview in the area and the unit seems to cope with recording and playing them back with no issue.

If you select a SD program, like many other boxes it will offer you the HD version.

Until of course you get to your 33rd planned recording and then it says this...

Why on earth did they limit it to 32 planned recordings?

From the manual...

You can enter up to 32 programmes up to a month in advance.
(Each daily, weekly or series programme is counted as one programme.)

Click to expand...

EDIT: I have email them...

Panasonic DMR-HW100.

1. Can you please increase the limit of recording timers from 32 to say 48 or 64? It does seem slightly crazy you can only set 32 timers, that is less than one timer per channel which seems a low ratio.

2. Tuning / Channel Sort By Region is not saved when you put the machine into standby so I keep getting the incorrect local BBC News on channel 1.

3. Not a major issue but sometimes when you press delete when playing a recording all it does is briefly pause playback rather than bringing up the delete confirmation dialogue box. I can see no pattern to when this issue occurs.